This article discusses the centrality of social justice as an ethical framework for participatory action research. Historical examples of action research projects in Great Britain and in Sweden are used to illustrate the importance for researchers and occupational health professionals of taking a clear stand with those who have less power, possess fewer resources, and who often are forced to bear the greatest burden of adverse exposures and ill health in modern work organizations. The theory of social justice developed by John Rawls is used to identify the ethical centrality of directly challenging the exploitation of subordinate by dominant social groups.
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